Home-Care Program

Care in your home

Contents

The Temmy Latner Centre was set up, at first, to provide palliative care to patients at Mount Sinai Hospital. But it quickly became clear that patients would often prefer to die at home, surrounded by their family and their loved ones. To fill this obvious need, we pioneered the use of palliative care for patients at home.

Our team of doctors is dedicated solely to caring for palliative patients in their own homes. Once in our Home-Care Program, a doctor will be available to help you — day and night, 365 days of the year.

Who do you serve?

We serve people of all ages who have been diagnosed as needing palliative care.

Our doctors can provide specialized care to children dying at home, with the support from the Paediatric Advanced Care Team and SickKids Hospital.

What areas of Toronto do you serve?

Unfortunately, we don’t have the resources to cover the entire Greater Toronto Area, so check the map to make sure you live within our service area.

What happens after you receive my referral?

When we receive a completed referral form, we will assign one of our doctors to your care.

Each doctor covers a specific part of the Greater Toronto area, so you will not be able to choose your own doctor. Once you have been assigned a doctor, he or she will be the doctor you usually see.

Some doctors work in teams. So you may be seen by both of them during your care.

Your doctor will call to arrange their first visit. Some areas have a short waiting list, so you may not get a call straight away. If your symptoms get worse and you need to see a doctor before our doctor has made their first visit, you will need to go back to your own doctor.

What hours does my doctor work?

Generally, our doctors work Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. However, each doctor works different days and times depending on other commitments they may have, such as administrative or educational duties at the Latner Centre. When your physician first meets with you, they will let you know their specific days and hours that they work.

Regardless of when your doctor works, one of our team of doctors will always be available to help you.

What happens if I need to contact my doctor after regular work hours?

Outside of regular work hours — including evenings, weekends and holidays — one of our team of doctors will be available to deal with any urgent matters.

All of our doctors take turns providing after-hours care, so it may be your doctor who responds or someone else from our team. Whoever is working, they will have access to your medical records, and will be aware of your medical problems and current care. They will provide support by phone and will make a home visit if necessary.

Are there other health-care professionals that will help to look after me?

The Temmy Latner Centre doctors are one member of a team of home-care specialists who will be caring for you. Other team members are organized through the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) . Please click here to learn more about who could be part of your health-care team.